Welcome to Metro Detroit, Fresh Thyme #FreshThymeMI

This post is sponsored by Fresh Thyme. All opinions and photos are mine.

Wednesday night I had the chance to check out the latest chain to hit metro Detroit: Fresh Thyme. If you aren’t familiar with the concept, think your local farmers market + Whole Foods with a dash of Trader Joe’s {and with TJ’s pricing}. Pretty much foodie heaven!

The company opened three new locations this week: Northville, Troy and Rochester Hills. There’s also a new location in East Lansing, and the company is scheduled to open a total of 60 stores by 2019.

For this visit, I went to the Northville location, and I have to say, I was impressed upon arrival. It’s farm-like exterior was so colorful and welcoming; it’s the type of store that just begs you to go inside.

The vibe inside was that of a bustling market, complete with colorful produce, artisan bread, a deli with fresh meat and more.

Some spots that instantly drew my attention was the make-your own pizza counter, sushi station, a beautiful salad bar, and fresh meat area with rows and rows of more than 12 handcrafted sausages and more. There also was plenty of all natural meat and fresh seafood, including grass-fed and organic options.

I also loved spotting all the blue “Local Favorite” and made in Michigan tags while walking the store, including quite a few products that were new to me. Fresh Thyme is passionate about making “local” a focus in all their stores.

A spot that made this store unique for me was the bulk area. There are more than 400 bins of natural and organic self-serve bulk items. Bulk items range from grains, granola, beans, snack items and more. I love that I could create my own trail mix or just grab a cup or two of random items like coconut flour, which I don’t use often and wouldn’t need an entire bag for.

As a coffee lover, I also enjoyed the locally roasted premium bulk coffee bean aisle. I could stand there and smell the fresh beans all day! They also had some samples available, which is always appreciated.

For my gluten-free friends, I saw TONS of options. In fact, there are more than 1,600 gluten-free products in every store. I saw lots of great treats like red velvet cupcakes and more, and the pricing seemed very reasonable.

The store even had a fun selection of green and organic baby toys and essentials, and organic baby food. I also found myself checking out the hundreds of natural and homeopathic health items the store offered. With an infant, I couldn’t believe the options they had to treat something like a cold without the harsh chemicals often found in mainstream medications. So great to have options!

I could have spent a ton of time walking through the natural health department too – everything from handcrafted soaps to essential oils, bottled greens and more were there.

Overall, I thought the store was great and a wonderful addition to the local shopping scene. I only hope Fresh Thyme will consider a Livingston County store a tad closer to me in the future 😀